We Got Served

Rackmount Chassis/server cases are becoming the preferred case of choice for a growing number of WHS enthusiasts.  A very small number perhaps, but growing.  Depending upon the style and overall case size, they are quite easy to stick on a shelf, install in a rackmount enclosure (Doh!), or even use it for a media center computer and place it alongside the rest of your AV components.

I would like to thank Norco for making the RPC-430 Rackmount Chassis available for review.  This is a 4U case with a depth of only 15-1/4”.   It is designed to accept Micro-ATX, ATX, CEB, and EEB style motherboards.  A case born in the server world, but designed for the consumer world.

What is the anticipated usage for this type of rackmount case?  From Norco:

The RPC-430, and RPC-330 (the 2U version of the RPC-430) are perfect for home theatre, mobile DJ station, even individuals like musical professionals, and of course, rackmount that require compact space in small business or home office use.  They are both Super Short Depth 15.25″. These give the customer a good option of choosing 2U or 4U depending on the situation of space and flexibility. You can easily put either one in you home theatre and record or download you favorite movies, music and play directly from it, without the hassle of burning them in to DVD or CD. With these extra hard drives, you store more than enough to play with. You big screen TV can easily be turned into a cool computer-controlled home theatre system. This is also super for the Mobile DJ station, compact enough for you put them in a mobile rack cabinet.

Specifications:

Drive Bay: Supports four 3.5″ drives and one 5.25″drive
Cooling Fan: 2 x 80mm rear ball bearing fans
Switch: Power ON/OFF x 1, System reset x 1
Indicator ower ON/OFF x 1, HDD x 1, NETWORK X 2
Connector:One front accessible USB port
Motherboard Compatibility: Support EEB (12″x13″), CEB(12″x10.5″), ATX (12″x9.6″), Micro ATX (9.6″ x 9.6″)
Power Supply Options: Standard ATX, mini redundant power supply
Dimensions ( W x D x H ): 19″ x 15.25″ x 7″ (483mm x 387mm x 176mm)
Packing ouble boxes
Weight: 6.8 kg/15 lb (NET) 10 kg/22 lb (GROSS)
Environment Temperature:0/55 °C, 32/131 °F (Operating) -20/60 °C, -4/140 °F (Non-Operating)
Relative Humidity: 5% to 95%,non-condensing
Vibration ( 5-500 Hz ):1 Grms (Operating), 2 G (Non-Operating)
Shock : 10 G(with 11ms duration, half sine wave) (Operating), 30 G (Non-Operating)

Features:

• 4U rackmount design,meets EIARS-310C standard.
• Super short depth, only 15.25 inch
• 1 x 5.25″ drive bay, 4 x 3.5 ” drive bays
• Easy drive mounting with screwless rails
• Support EEB (12″x13″), CEB(12″x10.5″), ATX (12″x9.6″), Micro ATX (9.6″ x 9.6″) motherboard
• Screwless top cover
• 2×80mm rear ball bearing fans for better ventilation
• Front accessible USB port
• Smooth border prevent lacerating your skin

Before I give you a hands-on look at this chassis, it is appropriate to provide some background information about Norco.  From their website:

NORCO, formed in 1991 through the merger of leading industry innovators, is the leading worldwide supplier of server rackmount, storage systems, network appliances, industrial PC parts and solutions distributed by 100 companies around the world.

Introduction

We are a leading manufacturer of server rackmount, storage systems, network appliances, industrial PC parts and solutions. The company also manufactures enclosures, primarily for industrial computers. Since its listing in 1990, the company has grown significantly in terms of revenues and profit. We now have a market capitalization of over $1 billion USD.

Strategy

NORCO’s objective is to maintain our position as one of the leading manufacturers of server rackmount, storage systems and other industrial computer accessory. We also aim to successfully develop products and market for use in network communication and embedded system products. A number of strategies have been developed to attain this objective:

Develop strategic relationship with industry leaders – By working closely with top-tier chipset and bois companies, NORCO is able to predict market trends accurately and introduce new products ahead of our competitors.

Achieve further vertical integration – Further integration of the production process allows NORCO to exercise better control over the quality of our products.

Maintain technologically advanced and flexible production capabilities – This increases NORCO’s competitiveness relative to our peers and allows us to stay one step ahead of the opposition.

New products – NORCO leverages from our manufacturing expertise, and continues to move tirelessly into new areas of related business.

Research & Development

Research and development (R&D) are the lifeblood of any high-tech company. In a market as competitive as that of the PC industry, NORCO depends on our R&D efforts to bring products to the market before our competitors. Approximately 5% of NORCO’s revenues are committed to R&D expenditure.

NORCO works closely with our clients to implement the latest technologies. Research is a two way process – not only does NORCO provide what the client wants, but through extensive dialogue and consultation, we exceed their requirements.

Quality & Speed

At NORCO, quality is more an action than a slogan. Quality control is implemented in all aspects of operations to meet the high standards of top tier customers. This philosophy permeates all levels of the production process. NORCO conforms to the most rigorous standards of quality and safety.

Global Network

NORCO’s ability to quickly deliver “Built-to-Order” products, as well as our superb time-to-market and global inventory control abilities are NORCO’s other significant competitive advantages.

NORCO’s principal manufacturing operations are based in China. NORCO has production facilities located in two areas – Shenzhen, in the Guangdong Province and Shanghai

In North America, NORCO has branches located in Los Angeles and Toronto. NORCO will continue to build its global distribution and production operations.

Future Growth Potential

• RAID storage systems
• POS boards
• DVR cards and system
• Compact PCI enclosures and boards
• Low power embedded system application

What’s In The Box?

Getting back to the item being discussed today, the first thing one must do is remove the item from the shipping box.  Double boxed and each box is double corrugated!  You *might* be able to drive a tank over this box without damaging the contents.

Digging a little deeper reveals the case.  What can I say?  With packaging like that, it would be difficult to receive a damaged piece of merchandize.

I removed the case from the package and proceeded to take various pictures.  Initial examination of the external case revealed very quality construction.  The fit was flawless.  The finish was good but not perfect.

A close-up of the left side.

A close-up of the right side.  Here you can see the controls, function LED’s, and USB port.  I would have preferred 2 ports, but for the intended use of this case, one port is probably sufficient.  It is here that you can also see the only opening (5-1/4”) that can be accessed from the front.

A closer look at the controls and LED array.  From left to right are:

• On/Off button
• Reset button
• USB port
• Power-on LED
• Disk-access LED
• NIC 1 LED
• NIC 2 LED

It is too bad my motherboard does not a NIC function output.  It would have been nice to be able to see network activity from the front panel.  The On/Off and reset buttons are actually membrane switches, a very nice touch in my opinion.  The LED’s are quite small and very unobtrusive when lit.  You will not find yourself blinded by an LED if you were to use such a case for an HTPC computer and have it placed with the remainder of your AV components.

If you look real close at the above picture, you will notice a small paint blob above the LED array and little bare metal at the bottom of the 5-1/4” bay cutout.

A side shot.  Yes, you can remove the rack handles, if so desired.  If you were to use this case for a media center computer and placed it with your AV components, it might be desirable to remove the rack handles.  This particular case would seem a bit large for such a purpose, but you never know!

A rear shot.  As can be seen, this case can accommodate standard ATX motherboards, as well as other sizes.  See the specs above.  This unit has two 80mm fans located in the rear.

Removing four side screws allows one to remove the top cover, as seen below.  Running my fingers along the inside edges indicated edges that “felt” sharp, but had been broke just enough so that you would really have to try to cut yourself.  Here you can see the drive bays in front.  The left bay is for a 5-1/4” device, such as a DVD drive.  The right two bays holds two hard drives each.

Inside, you will find the lead terminations for the front LED array.  All the leads have the appropriate markings on them to designate function.  You will notice that the fan leads are standard Molex plugs.  I really prefer the 3-wire fan plugs, but that is just me.

Inside the box are the screws for the motherboard and hard drives.  Also included are tooless rails for the hard drives, and a wrench is included to allow you to remove the motherboard standoffs, which just so happen to come installed on the case floor.  The following picture sucks but since I had already emptied most of the contents prior to discovering this, what I have to show you is one my picture mistakes!

When one looks at the pictures of the inside of this case above, you should ask yourself: how do I install a motherboard?  In order to do so, you must remove the rackmount handles, front face, and and bay housing.  I did not count the number of screws I had to remove, but it was a lot!

If you are truly ingenious, you might be able to install these components without removing those items.  If you can do so, my hat is off to you!

The removed face and housing are shown below.

As you can see below, there is now ample room to install anything you want inside the case.  At this point, you can see the motherboard and power supply installed.

And the remaining motherboard components.  All ready to reinstall the drive bay housing and front cover.

Drive bay housing reinstalled and all my drives put into their proper place.  Norco uses tooless rails for both the HD’s and the DVD drive, which is nice to have after the initial installation of the other components.  There is not a lot room for cables, but that does not bother me, as I am not a wiring fanatic.  If you use a video card, don’t expect to install a full-length one in here.

There is quite a bit of space below the bay housing for the extra wiring.

Many screws later, I had the machine ready to start up again.  I shuffled my hardware around to find an appropriate spot for it, and for your viewing pleasure, the final resting place for this “new” computer of mine!

The silver DVD drive sticks out like a sore thumb, but my old black one died a short time ago.  Out with the black and in with the silver!  Once situated, I proceeded to turn the computer on.  I fired it up and I was happy that I had all the drives reconnected correctly.  The first thing I noticed at this point was… the loud whoosh of fan noise.  You definitely would not want this in your bedroom or in your AV stand with this noise level.  The spec sheet for the fans that came installed in this case is shown below:

Please note that it is the C version: 37.8 CFM @ 34dBA.  Since the only external bay was filled with a DVD drive, I could not make use of one of my Crystalfontz fan controllers.  An alternate noise reducer was required!  In my stash of extra computer components, or junk drawers!, I happened to have one brand-new Scythe 80mm Kama-Flex fan.  I also dug out a wiring harness with hi/low fan speed connections.  A little mod later, I had a reasonably quiet machine.  The Scythe fan specs are noted below:

The particular version I used is the fan rated for 34 CFM @ 30dBA.  I ran the Scythe fan at full speed and the Norco-installed fan at low speed.  If I were to use this case for everyday use, I would purchase a 2nd Scythe fan.

One area of concern I had at this point was the temperature level of my hard drives.  I opened the WHS console and went to my Windows Home Server Disk Management tab.  The readings were 4 to 5°C higher than when installed in my hot swap module.  One of the features of this case is the full open mesh incorporated into the front cover.  It would seem as if the I could direct more air across the drives, I could keep them a little cooler.  To test this out, I took a couple sheets of printer paper and I covered up the lower mesh, as seen below.

I once again opened the WHS console and went to my Windows Home Server Disk Management tab.  The readings?

I also opened my Everest program, as I wanted to compare temperature results with and without my modification of not only my drives, but of the other components in this computer.  Everest temp readings:

Please note that these readings were taken at the end of a backup run.  I then removed my paper dam and let the machine sit for about an hour.  I then started up a manual backup.  As that run was finishing up, I took a few more shots as seen below.

Hard drive temperature differentials were approximately 2 to 4°C.  With my air dam in place, these temperatures were on a par with the temperatures I have observed when installed in a hot swap module.  Motherboard and CPU temperature differentials?  A 6°C change in motherboard temperature and  a non-relevant 1°C change in CPU temperature.  I do not have a comparison to document when the computer was installed in my CoolerMaster case, but I would not expect a major difference.  None of the temperatures documented above are a cause for concern, but it would be nice to optimize air patterns so that both the motherboard and drives received a fair amount of cooling potential.

I did try one more dam configuration to see what kind of effect I could generate.  I covered the mesh below the hard drives and left the right portion open, as can be seen below.

The temperature readings can seen below.  Once again, I took these pictures during a computer backup.

If you compare the various temperature pictures, it would appear that this particular variation gave me the a fairly decent balance of hard drive and motherboard cooling.  Now all I need to do is locate a nice black piece of “something” to stick behind the lower left grill and I might just find this style of case to my liking!

Costs and Conclusion

Pros:

• Compact depth (15-1/4”).
• Quality construction.
• At $64.99, this is a bargain.

Cons:

• No manual.
• Fans require standard Molex power connections.
• The finish needs improvement.
• Requires a significant amount of case disassembly to install the motherboard
• Loud fans.
• It’s not light.
• Requires a major amount of screws to be removed to install the motherboard and related components.

Would I recommend this rackmount case?  Norco is pricing their products at a price point that is hard to beat.  The construction is very solid and piece fit is quite nice.  And those handles add a bit of cool factor that wants to say: “I’m built like a tank.”  Most of the cons are relatively minor, but I would really like to see an improvement in the case finish.  It is adequate, but not much more.  Overall, I do like it, as it allows me to put the computer a little more up front instead of tucked away into a corner.  With the right fans and room placement, noise level is quite acceptable.

WHS users may find internal mount drives (no hot-swap drive option) a disadvantage, but may be perfect for a MC PC next to your AV components.  Whether this is the case for you simply depends on the whether you find the features right for your application.  If a rackmount case is in your future, cost would be a major consideration in your decision making process.

Company: Norco Technology Inc.

Model Reviewed: RPC-430 4U Rackmount Chassis

Cost: Newegg price: $64.99

Final note: I must apologize on the pricing detail, as I am in the U.S.  If a reader elsewhere spots one at their favorite etailer, I (and others) would appreciate it you could note source and cost as a comment.